Catastrophic Happenings

Austin found it hard to concentrate with Azalea’s hands continuously running through his hair. The action was making the not so innocent thoughts in his head taint the completely innocent situation.

“If you keep tilting your head like that I might just get some of this hair dye in those pretty blue-grey eyes of yours,” Azalea scolded.

“Sorry,” Austin muttered, pushing the thoughts to the back of his brain.

After spending most of their Saturday shopping for outfits for the upcoming photo shoot and future gigs, Austin and Azalea cramped into his bathroom, Azalea wielding a bottle of black hair dye. Rick needed Azalea occupied so that he could finish his surprise plans for her birthday. Sammy would have caved and spoiled the surprise, and Cade and Azalea were sure to have gotten into an argument spending that much time together. So naturally Austin was the only feasible option.

Cade however was pretty well behaved when Azalea was re-dying his blond streaks just an hour earlier—probably because Cade knew the damage she could do with bleach and his entire head of hair at her disposal. So to Austin’s joy, he was the only man left for the job. He hardly got to spend any time alone with Azalea.

He pulled out his cell phone and checked the time.

“So, where did we have to be by ten-thirty again?”

“Oh yeah, that was really slick,” Austin replied sarcastically.

Azalea groaned, “The suspense is killing me. But I bet it’s a party.”

“Curiosity killed the cat,” was all that Austin said in reply. “And when you finish with my hair it’ll be time to go. The minutes will just fly by,”

She rolled her eyes, “Fine.”

For a few moments the only sounds in the air were the squeeze of the plastic bottle of dye and Azalea’s gloved hands swishing back and forth through Austin’s locks.

“I’m going to miss the blue,” Azalea announced.

“Really?” Austin asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” she replied, a thoughtful look on her face. “Have you had it for a while?”

“Probably for about a year and a half now,” Austin informed her. His mind went back to the day that he decided to go blue. “I was really high when I did this the first time.”

Azalea laughed loudly. “Were the snake-bites part of a smoked-up decision as well?”

Austin unconsciously played with his snake-bites with his upper lip. “Nah, I got these when I was fifteen. I’d wanted them for a couple years before that, but my mom wouldn’t let me for the longest time. She finally caved and took me to get them though.”

“I love lip piercings,” Azalea said emphatically.

Austin mentally groaned and looked at her reflection through the mirror. What are you doing to me?, he asked himself. If any other girl was in that bathroom with him he would have been certain that her feelings for him were mutual. But it wasn’t just any other girl.

“Thanks again for putting up with my meltdown about my hair the other day.”

“No worries,” he replied quickly.

Azalea then shifted her weight to her hip and looked directly into Austin’s eyes through the mirror’s reflection. “Why aren’t we friends?”

The question caught Austin off guard. “We’re friends,” he assured.

“Not really,” she replied. “We don’t talk outside of anything band related. And even during that, we only exchange a few sentences here ad there*.”

Austin didn’t know how to reply.

“It just seems unnatural,” Azalea went on. “We seem like we’d get along. I mean, I like you.”

He ignored the increased tempo of his heartbeat at her words and instead joked, “The first time we talked you accused me of being a rapist.”

“It’s your own fault that I was forced to make that assumption,” she shrugged. “But since I am now certain that you do not wish to have nonconsensual sex with me, I think we should work on being friends. Agreed?”

Austin thought about her proposal. The reason they weren’t close was because he purposely put that distance between them. He quickly weighed the pros and cons of becoming better friends with Azalea, and came to the conclusion that his feelings for her would hurt either way. If he was going to be in the friend zone he might as well enjoy all the time he could with her. Plus, he needed to be in the best position to snag her if she and Ben ever broke up.

“Agreed,” he replied with a smile.


Just as Azalea had suspected, Rick had thrown her a surprise birthday party at his condominium. He invited her friends from high school and other close friends of his and the band’s.

“I can’t believe you did this!” Azalea said to Rick after the yells of “Surprise!” His entire place was covered in birthday decorations. And then there was a keg in the corner and handles of alcohol on his kitchen counter.

Rick engulfed her in an embrace. “After all the sweet sixteens we played, I couldn’t believe you didn’t have one of your own. So I thought it was only fair for me to throw you one.”

After pulling away Azalea asked him jokingly, “You do know that providing alcohol to minors is illegal, right?”

Austin chuckled, “I doubt anyone will be turning him in.”

Sammy ran up to them and swung his arm around Azalea’s shoulders. “Please tell me that this is the night you start drinking.”

“I don’t think so.”

Cade was close behind and joined the conversation, “Oh, come on. Maybe you’ll be some fun, for once.”

“She’s always a ball of fun to me.”

Azalea yelped as Ben engulfed her in a massive hug from the side. She turned around in his arms, “You knew about this the whole time?” she asked, astonished.

Ben smiled lopsidedly before nodding.

“I think someone is already a little drunk,” Azalea teased, examining his face.

“Ben sure can drink,” Sammy exclaimed.

“He was ripping shots left and right,” Rick confirmed

When Ben leaned down for a sloppy kiss, Austin knew that his time with Azalea was done for the night.

He pulled on Cade’s arm, seeing that he was equally disgusted in the display of affection.

“Come on,” Austin yelled in his ear over the loud music. “It’s time to get wasted.”


Three hours later, Austin found himself quite inebriated and on a mission to find Azalea. After a few drunken circles around the condo, he finally located her and a passed out Ben in Rick’s bedroom.

“Hey!” Azalea exclaimed, amused at Austin’s wobbly steps. “Are you doing okay?”

“I’m fine!” he said with a smile. Azalea was resting against the headboard of the bed, Ben’s head in her lap. He sat on the opposite side of Ben’s limp form.

“So,” Austin began, but had to pause to get his thoughts together. “You don’t care if your boyfriend drinks so much that he passes out, but you won’t even have one beer?”

“I actually really like Ben when he’s drunk,” Azalea mused as she began to stroke his hair. “He’s really fun and he gets pretty touchy.”

Austin hoped he didn’t roll his eyes, but he couldn’t be certain.

“And I guess I don’t drink just because I feel like I’m at the age where doing it just seems so pressed. I mean, you’ve seen my classmates. They all look like idiots.”

“But that’s the point,” Austin interjected.

She shrugged. “Come closer to senior year I’m sure I’ll be drinking. But right now, I’m not in a rush to feel older.”

“You’re only sixteen,” he replied.

“Hence the sweet sixteen party,” she joked.

After the conversation died, leaving a several seconds of silence, Azalea asked, “What are you doing in here anyway? You’re missing out on all the fun.”

Austin’s eyebrows rose, “Says the birthday girl that’s missing out on her own party.”

She shrugged and looked down at Ben’s face affectionately, “I’d feel like a bitch if I ditched him. What’s your excuse?” she asked after turning her attention back to him.

I want to spend time with you. “Just needed a break from the noise,” he lied.

“Well, as long as you don’t puke or pass out, I’d appreciate the company.”

Austin scooted closer to her on the bed and asked flirtatiously, “Would I get to lie on your lap if I did pass out?”

She laughed, “You could if it wasn’t already taken. I’d offer my shoulder though.”

Even though Austin didn’t feel like he needed to lie down, with drunken forwardness he rested his head on Azalea’s shoulder anyway. Luckily, she didn’t mind.

The two talked for the rest of the night. They discussed everything from the band, to Austin’s past, to Azalea’s aspirations for her future. Best of all. Azalea found out that she was right: the two did make excellent friends.